Buckle



F. COCKER.

BUCKLE.

APPLlCATlON FILED OCT. 30| i918.

Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK COCKER, OF DERBY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO ROBERT N. BASSETT COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF SI-IELTON, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

BUCKLE.

Application filed October 30, 1918.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK COCKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Derby, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Buckles, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to sheet metal buckles for ruiming webbing of the class wherein the back member is provided with forwardly turned apertured side ears in which are journaled trunnions which project laterally from the side edges of the lever member,'and its object is to produce a device of this character in which the lever and back members can be assembled by hand without utilizing the press or machine usually employed in the assembling operation of this class of buckle.

For the purpose of enabling my invention to be better understood by those skilled in the art I have embodied the same in the buckle herein illustrated and described which is distinguished from other buckles in that the apertured side ears are provided with guide ways or slots which extend from the outer edges of the ears into the apertures and through which the lever trunnions pass edgewise when inserted into the apertures. Such a construction enables the assembling of the parts to be done by hand and at the same time makes it unnecessary to radically change the general appearance of the buckle.

Other features of my invention will appear in the following description and accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to corresponding parts.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a front view of the buckle mounted on webbing;

Fig. 2, a central, longitudinal sectional view;

Fig. 3, a front view showing one position of the lever during the assembling operation, one of the ears being shown partially broken away, and

Fig. 4, an end view.

The buckle generally comprises a back member A and a front member or lever B. The back A is suitably blanked and struck up out of sheet metal to form the back plate 2 having the forwardly turned side ears 3, 3, which latter are provided with perforations 4, 4. Immediately below the top edge Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 20, 1920.

Serial No. 260,386.

5 of the back plate 2 the metal is depressed to form a transversely disposed channel 6. The bottom of the back 2 is provided with a transversely disposed web-gripping lip 7 The lip 7 is of such a length that when it is folded up toward the front face of the back plate its edge 8 will lie below the channel 6 as shown in Fig. 2. The lever B is also bent up out of a sheet metal blank to form the front portion or shield 9, the webengaging edge l0 disposed at an angle thereto and the laterally projecting trunnions l1, l2, which latter when the buckle is assembled are journaled in the apertures 4, 4, in the side ears 3, 3. The webbing C has one of its extremities 7c fastened to the back A by inserting it between the back plate 2 and the projecting lip 7 which latter is then pressed toward the back by a swaging operation so that the extremity 7c becomes securely gripped between the lip and back member below the channel 6. The extremity lc being thus secured, the free or moving portion of the webbing is passed rearwardly over the top edge 5 of the back plate, then downwardly below the back and through the cast-off link D, and then upwardly between the lever and the back plate into the upper reach of the webbing. When the lever B is shut down so that the buckle is closed the web-gripping edge l0 snaps into the channel 6 causing a deflection of the moving portion of the webbing around the gripping edge which facilitates the holding qualities of the latter when the webbing is subjected to severe strains. The buckle thus far described, with the exception of the side ears, is one well known in the art and is disclosed herein merely for the purpose of showing one form of buckle to which my invention is applied. l

One of the side ears 3 is provided with a slot 13 which extends from the upper rear edge of the ear into the aperture 4. This slot is flared at its outer extremity but is of a width where it enters the aperture substantially equal to the thickness of the metal forming the trunnions so that in passing through the same the trunnion is readily received by the flaring entrance of the slot before passing through the restricted portion into the aperture by a snap action due to the resiliency of the metal which permits the slot to spread slightly. For the purpose of preventing the ear from breaking off on accountV of any excessive spreading of the edges of the slot I reinforce the same with a bead 14C which extends around the top and front side of the ear adjacent to the aperture at points where the ear is weakened and the strain is concentrated when the buckle is in use. When the back of the buckle is formed the ears 3, 3 are bent up to their final position at right angles with the back plate 2.

To assemble the buckle the lever is reversed so that its web-engaging edge is on its under side and toward the front. rlhe trunnion 1l is then inserted into the aperture 4 in the left-hand side ear by inserting` it endwise into the aperture. The trunnion l2 is then swung through the slot 13 in t-he right-hand ear 3 and passes edgewise through the slot into the aperture 3 in the right-hand side ear. The lever and back are thus inV their assembled relation and the trunnions can have a pivotal action in the apertures without becoming accidentally displaced since the restricted extremity of theslot prevents the trunnion from reentering the slots. The webbing may be attached to the buckle either before or after the lever and back are assembled but the front layer of the moving portion is not passed over the front of the back until after the assembling takes place since the thickness of the webbing is such that the presence of the front layer, in addition to the rear layer passing around the top edge of the back, would cause the space between the ears to be lled up with webbing to a position well forward of the entrance to the slot so that it would be impossible to slip the trunnion into the slot. For this same reason the buckle can not be disassembled when the moving portion of the webbing is passed through the same, since the trunnion could not pass out of the slot. It is not necessary that the slot should have a flaring entrance at its outer extremity, or should be restricted in width at its inner extremity, since a slot of uniform width may be employed if desired. Neither is it necessary that the ear should be provided with a reinforcing bead, as shown, since I may form the back out of metal of suflicient thickness, or make the body portion of the ear in front of the aperture of suflicient width, to endure the strains incidentto slitting the ear and forming the slot. When beads are formed in both ears they prevent the points of the trunnions from projecting beyond the sides of the buckle and thereby protect the clothing from catching on the points of the trunnions. I prefer' to reinforce the ear around the aperture, as shown, since it enables a lighter gage of metal to be used than is ordinarily required in the present style of buckle having small side ears which feature, if taken together with the feature of reinforcing the back by the shoulder 6 and the webgripping lip 7, is very desirable since all the members of the back beingy reinforced where strains occur enables a lighter gage of metal to be used throughout theback than that employed in other styles of buckles.

y My invention is not confined to the use of a slot for a guideway through which the trunnion may pass into its aperture, neither is it necessary that the side ears should be apertured since I may utilize any other guideways which are suitably shaped to receive the trunnions, or any other bearings in which trunnions may be journaled, the import-ant feature of my invention being the feature of sliding one or both of the trunnions through guideways in the side ears into their bearings without springing or bending the backin the usual manner of assembling this style of buckle. It should-be noticed also that the lever can be assembled from the front, that isl without passing through any openings in the backv of the buckle, and further that the end of the webhing can be attached to the buckle before the assembling takes place. It will be-also understood that before the webbing is attached, or when the front layeris withdrawn from behind the lever, that the buckle may be disassembled by swinging one of the trunnions edgewise through the'slot to a position beyond the edge of the side ear and then removing the other trunnion endwise out of its bearing. In the buckle above described I have formed the slot for the passage of the trunnion in only one ear, but it is obvious that the same may be formed in both ears so that when assembling either the one or the other trunnion may be swung through the slot into its ear as desired.

Wherever I have used the termback member it is to be understood that I refer to that part of the buckle with whichthe lever cooperates since the device may be used in such a way that the lever member might be regarded as the back member ofthe buckle. `While I have shown my invention applied to the buckle herein illustrated and described yet it is obvious that it may be applied to other buckles wherever applicable provided the same may come fairly within the scope of the appended claims.

Having now described my invention what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. A sheet metal lever buckle of the class wherein laterally projecting trunnions on one member are seated lin apertured side ears on the other member characterized in that one 0f said ears is provided' with a guideway which extends from the outer edge of the ear into its aperture and through which one o f the trunnions may be passed during the process of assembling the buckle.

2. A sheet metal lever buckle of the class wherein laterally projecting trunnions on one member are seated in apertured side ears on the other member characterized in that one of said ears is provided with a slot which extends from the side edge of the ear into its aperture and through which one of the trunnions may be passed during the process of assembling the buckle.

3. A buckle having a back provided with a pair of apertured side ears one of which is provided with a slot extending from the edge of the ear into its aperture and through which one of the lever trunnions may be passed during the process of assembling the buckle, the said side ear being reinforced between its outer edge and the edge of its aperture.

4. A sheet metal lever buckle of the class wherein laterally projecting trunnions on one member are seated in apertured side ears on the other member characterized in that one of the ears is provided with a guideway extending from the edge of its aperture to the outer edge of said ear, the said buckle being strung with webbing between said ears and the outer end of said slot terminating at one side of said webbing, whereby the crowding action of the webbing prevents the trunnion from passing through the slot.

5. A buckle comprising a back having a pair of apertured side ears one of which extends slightly above the top edge of the back and is provided with a slot which extends from the rear edge of said ear into its aperture, and a lever having laterally projecting trunnions journaled in said apertures, the said trunnions being of a thickness less than the width of the slot in the ear, whereby when the lever is turned so that the trunnions will be edgewise to said slot it may be passed therethrough and the buckle disassembled.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of October, 1918.

FREDERICK COCKER. 

